Challenges and trends for a new era in the world of travel
The year 2021 will be key for tourism. As the world recovers from the global economic crisis and borders begin to open gradually, predictions about the future of this key sector for the world economy are beginning to follow one after the other. Most of them agree that the real upturn will not come before the third quarter, due to pandemic-related travel restrictions.
«The entrepreneurs of the sector trust in the good forecasts for 2021, and not so much in the aid or policies that can be established to protect tourism. They are betting on the tourists' desire to travel», explains Alberto Peris Andreu, executive director and founding partner of CESAE Business & Tourism School.
The truth is that post-covid tourists have become even more demanding, so, in addition to comfort and services, they are looking for other factors, such as health, social distancing or freedom.
At the same time, they want to enjoy their trips as much as possible, as in the past, respecting capacity, schedules, security measures and with a much more deeply rooted awareness than before.
The restrictions experienced in 2020 will cause travel to soar as soon as there is health stability and as long as the economy has allowed families to stay afloat. These are the keys to the next year advanced by CESAE Business & Tourism School:
Vaccines against Covid-19. Undoubtedly the most desired is the end of the pandemic, and for this it will be essential to check the degree of effectiveness on the population of the various vaccines that will soon be distributed on a massive scale.
Public aid. Despite its resilience, tourism has been so hard hit that its recovery will necessarily have to go hand in hand with financing and economic and fiscal aid from national and international public entities. The closure and sale and purchase of hotels will be a key point.
Polarization of tourism consumption.
The crisis has caused a significant loss of critical mass in the middle classes. This will mean that, for economic reasons, certain social groups will be excluded from the enthusiasm for travel that they used to enjoy. The MICE segment will be the most affected and its recovery will be the last to occur.
Increased business productivity.
The pandemic could lead to a rapid increase in the productivity of the surviving companies, as a result of the adoption of new processes and technologies. In the case of tourism all this will be linked to digitalization.
Increased robotization. The advent of 5G and other technological innovations will enable the emergence of much more powerful and operational autonomous robots in terms of speed, latency and hyperconnectivity that will revolutionize transportation, logistics and hospitality. Technological development and social networks will become even more essential tools for obtaining information, organizing trips, sharing opinions among businesspeople and tourists, building customer loyalty, showcasing products and services, and improving online reputation, among other things.
Flexibility in bookings. The price factor will continue to be crucial, but booking conditions will become very important in terms of facilitating cancellations, changes and refunds, in order to stimulate demand and generate confidence. With the current pandemic situation, it has been necessary to reconvert the traditional way of marketing tourism products and services due to the uncertainty.
Luxury tourism boom. Premium brands will be ahead in the recovery, as well as everything related to the luxury segment. Customers will be willing to pay more for private services, exclusive products and benefits that reduce contact with other guests or passengers.
Domestic and nature travel. The ‘staycation’ which used to be an alternative trend, will be a consumption pattern for a long time to come. The uncrowded destinations of the big cities, as well as rural and nature tourism, will enjoy greater prominence.
New players. The crisis also represents a scenario of opportunity. Venture capital funds, start-ups, technology multinationals, real estate investment companies, among others, will take positions in a sector with such a large growth potential as tourism at this time.
Security health dimension. Even if the pandemic subsides, travelers around the world will take precautions thinking about covid-19. Health and hygiene measures, magnitudes such as social distance and so on will remain critical in 2021 to convey confidence across the industry.
New ways of forecasting. In an unprecedented scenario, there is no model to compare against. This is a problem that affects all sectors. No one can forecast in the usual way. This is going to continue in 2021 until the management of restrictions by governments stabilizes.
Innovation.
The tourism sector is going to be exposed to intense innovation activity in terms of processes, products, services, hotelía, gastronomyía, mobility, etc.
Innovation.
Innovation.